Iron Lady
by inzayn41D
Summary: Amidst the Argo II, Reyna remembers the wise words of her former mentor. One-Shot


**I've read HoH and Reyna was totally badass so I thought up this one shot for her. I'd decided to mesh real life implications with Reyna's character, such as how to be successful and gain authority when your a woman in power, which is pretty damn hard.**

"A juste person is one whose emotions do not overwhelm his reason, and that acting justly leads to happiness while acting unjustly leads to unhappiness." Her mentor and ex-praetor Claudia quoted straight out of Plato's Republic.

"You see, we can take something valuable out of this Ancient Greek text," Claudia began, as she circled about the room. "As leaders we are required to solely focus on the people, to work on the people's behalf."

Reyna took in everything Claudia said with eagerness, recording all her newly acquired knowledge into her mind. She was still giddy with excitement, this mornings events were still circulating within her mind.

Tonight she would be presented as the newly hailed praetor with the whole of New Rome watching her, including Jason.

Claudia slammed the thick book in front of her, knocking her out of all her previous thoughts.

"In order to be an effective leader, it is quite important to be attentive, Reyna.." Claudia smiled.

"Sorry,"she mumbled. "I'm just...nervous, that's all."

"That's understandable," Claudia reasoned. "It happens to the best of us."

Reyna shifted in her seat, the atmosphere in the room grew much more tenser and suddenly her cushioned chair felt stiff.

"There is something important I must tell you before you take my place." Claudia started.

Reyna leaned out of her seat.

"You...are a girl and you'd have to work ten times as hard to get the same recognition and respect as a male praetor. Rumours will be spread about you, lies will be told and usually whenever your name is spoken slander will follow. Your name will be spat upon like a joke and sometimes you won't get the recognition you deserve, even from your closest of friends."

She nodded solemnly, this wasn't exactly some new piece of information.

"You'll have to look perfect, act perfect and even sound perfect. You must be resolute, your opinion must remain unbiased and remember sometimes you must go against the people's will in order to get things done. Showing weakness is not an option."

Reyna swallowed, hard.

"Sometimes you must trick the senate into following your protocol, you must have a counter attack for every argument you face. The senate room can be more vicious and dangerous than the battlefield. Some of your greatest enemies will made there." Claudia spoke with a delicate voice.

"I understand."

"There will be times you'll have to send campers to they're deaths without showing the slightest bit of remorse." Claudia said. "Showing remorse...could be your greatest downfall. It is better to be feared than loved at all."

"Of course." She answered.

"Lastly, never submit to the will of anyone and above all, rely on no one but yourself."

"I will succeed." Reyna replied eagerly. She had never felt so confident in her life. Reyna would be taking Claudia's place at the most dangerous of times, amidst war. This was her chance to succeed, to prove herself worthy of her new position.

"I know you will," Claudia said. "New Rome has spoken and they chose you to be they're leader."

That memory from all those years ago suddenly resurfaced. Jason had chosen to be with the Greeks instead of the Romans.

It came to her as no surprise, she had seen it coming from miles away. She had seen it in the way he carried himself upon his return to Camp Jupiter. His posture was less rigid and more carefree, his hair ill-kept and chin speckled with stubble.

His voice sounded much more fluid and less commanding. Even his presence didn't garner as much attention as it did back at Camp.

Reyna had thought she'd be much more upset, but surprisingly she wasn't.

As long as he was happy she was pleased. Never would she want him to compromise his well-being for others, especially hers. Although she couldn't hide the envy she felt. For months she had yearned for the luxury of being able to follow her heart's content rather than her obligations.

But the idea of her doing so seemed too preposterous. It went against everything she stood for.

Her duty was now to bring peace to two different camps, who both harboured a hatred and fear of one another for well over a millennia. As difficult as a task that was she'd go through endless trials to complete it.

The Seven were counting on her, Annabeth was counting on her.

If Reyna's love and loyalty had meant anything, surely she'd be successful.

Reyna's hands were glued on to the railing, her knuckles turning white.

Her eyes were locked on Jason, who seemed to be having a private conversation with Frank.

Frank had caught her glance and as quick as he did, she turned to stare at the ground.

Suddenly a heavy object smacked her right on her backside. If she hadn't been gripping onto the railing, she probably would have fallen right off the ship.

"No use mopping over your dead horsey, praetor lady." The faun- no satyr bellowed. Suddenly all eyes were on them.

The satyr turned to face in Jason's direction. "Or boys," he said in a hushed voice. "You'll have time for that later."

She felt her face turn a horrendous shade of pink."I..have other important things on my mind." She stuttered.

"Yeah, sure." The satyr said sarcastically. "Hey, what's taking that Nico kid for so long?"

If Reyna hadn't been trained to stay calm she probably would've leapt out of her armour. Hazel's brother, Nico had come to image through shadows.

Something set her off about him, he radiated misery. Yet she couldn't shake the feeling that maybe they weren't so different from one another.

His bony fingers curled around her's and then the satyrs. Her hand felt like stone from beneath his. It was almost like he was sucking the life out of her. With one longing glance Jason's way, she braced herself for the worst.

Just as they were going to leave, Nico squeezed her hand lightly, as if it was for support, and at that moment her whole body dissolved into the shadows.


End file.
